


Peppered Stark is Spicy

by AnonEhouse



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Pepper Potts, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Team Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:01:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22473772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonEhouse/pseuds/AnonEhouse
Summary: In this AU Howard adopted Pepper (who's only a few years younger than Tony) and she kicked Obieout and took over handling the business. So she and Tony have a sibling relationship, with no sexual overtones.(Oops it's been pointed out to me that I had posted this back in 2016-that version was very nearly the same as chapter 1 of this Mea Culpa. I'm not deleting either one, though. Sometimes you just have to acknowledge the oops and keep on trucking.)
Relationships: Pepper Potts & Tony Stark
Comments: 38
Kudos: 295





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Guilt from my goof made my muse squeeze out 2 more chapters. Still no idea where it's going, if it's going, not really.

(If you are reading this on any PAY site this is a STOLEN WORK, the author has NOT Given Permission for it to be here. If you're paying to read it, you're being cheated too because you can read it on Archiveofourown for FREE.)

"Yes, Pepper, I know you really must have the very latest designer shoes, but we have a meeting to attend." Tony pulled the laptop away from her.

"Tony! They're sparkly!" Pepper protested.

"They'll still be sparkly in the... Pepper, is that a soccer uniform...are those three soccer uniforms?"

Pepper kicked them under the bed. "I'm cutting down. Hey, it's me, what do you expect?"

Tony sighed. "I don't know why, but I still have hope one day I'll wake up and... Pepper! Where are you going?" Tony ran after her, snatching up her jacket and holding it in front of her just before she reached the balcony to wave at the paparazzi clustered below the hotel window. 

"Hi fellas," Pepper called cheerfully.

Tony frantically moved to keep the jacket between her and the cameras.

"Don't be such a prude, Tony. I have great boobs, why be ashamed of them!"

"No more Long Island Ice Tea for you, never again." Tony tried to shoo off the paparazzi by flapping the jacket, which he realized belatedly was a bad idea. "Dad is going to have a stroke."

Pepper wandered back into the room. "He'll be fine. Air-headed bimbos are always underestimated. We're working on a hostile takeover and need all the advantage we can get." Pepper put on a silk blouse patterned with Louboutins - a limited license print run- and began brushing her hair. "Anyway I was wearing my bra."

Tony sat down on the bed, then got up and moved over a few inches. "What was I sitting on?"

"Don't know. Don't care," Pepper sang out as she went over to the mirror and began putting on her warpaint. "You worry too much, Tony."

"You're my little sister!" Tony waved his hands, and then remembered he was still holding the jacket. "I'm supposed to look after you." He got up and draped the jacket over her shoulders.

Pepper's expression softened. "And you do, Tony. I'm fine. No one pushed me into this, you remember?"

"Yeah, I know." Tony huffed. "Dad didn't know he'd adopted a top notch negotiator and executive officer material. He just thought he was hitting the trifecta of good deed for publicity, handing Mom a kid who wouldn't embarrass her at social events, and getting a good example companion for me."

"You make it sound like I was the pick of the litter." Pepper ruffled Tony's hair. "I didn't do anything I didn't want to, Tony. You _know_ that." Her voice hardened. "You and dad...the two of you just don't know people. Obadiah was going to destroy you both. I loved you from the first day, because you needed me. You don't know how that made me feel. I could be part of a family again. I wasn't going to let anyone ruin that for me."

"I still don't know how you did it. You were _eight_."

"I was eight," Pepper said with a smile. "Eight and adorable. Good old 'uncle' Obie locked off everything but the games on his computer. He wasn't expecting me to start up from the repair disk and remove the password."

"Yeah, that was always the security worm in the old Apple. Speaking of apples..."

"I'm not hungry."

"You're too skinny. You can't fight the sharks on an empty stomach." Tony sat down and picked up the hotel phone. "Room service?"

"All right," Pepper stepped into her shoes. "But no omelets!"

"Yeah, yeah, one time, one time I messed up. Prosciutto and cantaloupe, with croissants?" 

"Perfect." Pepper twirled. "How do I look?"

"Ready to take on the world. As usual." Tony grinned up at her.


	2. Chapter 2

"I don't like that guy," Happy told Tony after the meeting with Aldrich Killian. "He's putting the moves on Ms. Pepper." He held open the door of the stretch limo for Tony. 

"You never like anyone putting the moves on Pep," Tony said. He felt for Happy, he really did. Pepper was the only one who couldn't see how much Happy loved her, and how hard it was for him not to say anything to her about the men and women in her life. "Pepper knows what she's doing," Tony said, out of loyalty, but he didn't like it any better. Killian was tall, handsome, and well spoken, but something about him rubbed Tony the wrong way. "AIM could be a good acquisition for S.I." 

"Getting in bed with the enemy," Happy grumbled, but he went silent when Pepper appeared, turning to wave at Killian, while smiling brightly. Happy held the door for her. "Watch your skirt," he said, and then shut the door on her the moment she was inside. He settled his chauffeur's cap on his head, marched to the front of the limo and got in, nearly slamming the door shut. He took off with a jerk that pushed Tony and Pepper back, before settling down to his usual steady driving.

Pepper frowned and looked at Tony. "What's wrong with Happy?"

"Nothing," Tony said. He wasn't going to betray Happy's confidence. "So, you're going to have a private meeting with Killian?"

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Yes, I am. I'm a big girl now, Tony. I need to talk to him in private. There are rumors he'd developed a super soldier serum."

Tony had been reaching for a bag of dried fruit in the refreshment console. He opened a bottle of Scotch instead. "Shit." He poured a glass full and had a swallow. "We can't let dad hear about that."

"I know. It took ages to convince him it was a failure. Martini, please."

Tony fixed her drink from the pre-made shaker, and handed it to her. "He wouldn't start that up again," Tony said, but he didn't feel very confident. "All the test animals went nuts. Killer rabbits."

"Murderous mice." Pepper took a healthy gulp of her drink. "Even the beagles!" She shuddered. "So cute. So sweet."

"So unpredictably vicious." Autopsies had showed brain damage to the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala. The serum just didn't work.

"But... there was Rogers. If Killian says he can do it, dad might think it's just that it only works on people."

"He wouldn't. Would he? I mean, we don't even know that it worked on Rogers. He only lived a few years after getting the serum, and he spent most of that time at war, where no one would notice if he had fits of homicidal rage. No one SAID there was anything wrong with him, he might have been fine, but who knows? They only tested him physically."

"Rogers might have been perfect. But even if he was, he could have been a one in a million fluke. I won't have dad breaking his heart trying it again. What if, what if he winds up with another Red Skull? It would kill dad."

"So, we buy out AIM, close down that project, and NDA anyone working on a serum, if they're actually doing it."

"Yes," Pepper finished her martini. "IF. I need to get Killian to open up. I have to be sure. If he's actually doing this, he hasn't mentioned it in his sales pitch. He might be selling AIM in order to fund his research on the serum."

"Well, if he does... yeah... even if he's not connected to S.I." Tony sighed. "Dad's weak spot. What do you have in mind?"

Pepper shrugged. "He's not exactly ugly."

"Pepper!"

"Oh, don't fuss. I'm not going to seduce him. OR sleep with him. Just dinner, drinks, and a chat. He already thinks I'm an airhead."

"So, that's why you kept reading from note cards." Tony was slightly mollified.

Pepper nodded. "Let him think I've only got the position out of nepotism. Just a pretty face to sell pitches. After all, everyone knows I'm not a true Stark and didn't inherit genius."

Tony huffed. "You're more Stark than I am, Pep." Tony didn't like it, but Pepper had her reasons. "Don't forget to bring baby-Zap with you, just in case."

"Always," Pepper stroked the slivery bracelet she wore on her left wrist. "I always keep your present with me, Tony. You know that."


	3. Chapter 3

Tony was in his workshop, fiddling with one of his 'toys', as Howard called them, when his phone played Pepper's ringtone. Pepper didn't usually call him when she was in the middle of a date. Hardly ever. In fact, the last time was because she'd broken her heel while dancing and wanted him to bring a new pair of Jimmy Choos.

"Hey, Pep, what's up?"

The deep chuckle that came in answer wasn't Pepper's voice, but he recognized it, with a sinking feeling in his gut. "Obie?"

"Aw, I'm touched. You still remember me. You don't write. You don't visit."

"Yeah, well, you know, too busy for a pen pal. When did you get out? Who'd you bribe?" Tony didn't wait for an answer. "And how the fuck did you get Pepper's phone?" Tony moved to his keyboard and typed a command to locate Pepper's phone... GPS disabled... track the phone call itself, no luck, then... get S.I. satellites to triangulate the signal.

"Tony, Tony, Tony," Stane said in that creepy uncle voice of his. "My boy, you didn't think I'd forgot about you and your family? Didn't think I'd forgot what your sweet little sister did to me?"

"You did it to yourself, Obie." The search wasn't working. "She was just a kid! Look, you're out, you need money? I can get it for you. Just tell me where you are."

"Where Pepper is, you mean." Stane chuckled again. "Sure, why not. I don't want your money. I want your stocks. Yours, your sister's, and Howard's. Sign them over to me. I liked Maria. She can keep hers. That should be enough to support your family."

"What?" Tony said flatly. "You know, I can't do that."

"Sure you can. Write the letter, bring the signed certificates. I'll handle the rest." Stane paused a moment. "Well, maybe you don't really care about Pepper. After all, she's adopted."

"I can't... I can't get dad's and Pepper's stock certificates. I don't know where they are." The search still was coming up blank.

Obie sighed. "I see you're not taking me seriously. Well, all right then. Maybe I'd rather have revenge. My new business partner needs test subjects. Go ahead, Aldrich."

"What? No. No, I'll get them, somehow, I'll..."

And then Pepper screamed. 

And then the call ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, short chapter, but better than nothing? Hope I can continue, but alas, still don't trust my muse.
> 
> This is Pepper's ringtone- 'I'm a hot pepper' from the Teen Titans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kahhl5Qhus
> 
> https://finance.zacks.com/transfer-stock-ownership-3541.html


End file.
